“We have freedom of speech, but you have to watch what you say.” ~ Tracy Morgan. Over the last couple months, more than 1000 people have been arrested or injured when participating in controversial protests across the nation. However, the majority of those arrests were due to violent outbursts as a response to invidious utterances made by people in an opposing crowd. Amanda Hess’s article “Battle Cry” demonstrates how people’s inadequate communication skills can turn their speech into acts of violence. Hess begins her article with a bewildering rhetorical statement that allows one to bring forth their own perspective in order to understand the author’s intentions. Hess uses repetition throughout her introduction to form a parallel about